The invention describes a method for separating polar molecules in a liquid solution and, more particularly, a method for separating polar molecules in a liquid solution using Mn3(PO4)4.2(H3NCH2CH2)3N.6(H2O).
Methods for separating compounds from mixtures are of great utility, both on a laboratory and industrial scale. The purity of produced chemical compounds is dictated to a large extent by the purification, or separations, step in which a compound is separated from other compounds in a mixture. Separation of a compound from chemically-related compounds can be particularly difficult to achieve. Conventional methods for separating a compound from related compounds use differences in these compounds that are both chemical and physical. Porous inorganic and organic solids have shown utility as separations media for various industrial applications. The microstructure of these solids allows molecular access to the surface area that enhances their sorption utility. These porous solids can be amorphous or crystalline and can be inorganic, such as aluminosilicate materials, or can be inorganic/organic hybrids, such as organically templated materials. Solid crystalline compounds can be formed that are useful in separations because of their pore size distribution structure or because of the characteristics of the layering in the structure.
Various organo-metal phosphate materials have been formed which have sorption characteristics that serve to selectively separate one compound from a mixture. These materials accomplish separation using a combination of chemical and physical characteristics. The crystalline structure can provide layering that selectively permits intercalation of certain molecules from a mixture of molecules with the organo-metal phosphate also having sorption characteristics that aid in separations.
Metal-phosphate materials have been formed as crystalline structures, generally by hydrothermal synthesis. Organo-metal phosphate materials have been formed using a variety of organic compounds as the templating molecule. Alumino-phosphate, tin-phosphate, and gallium-phosphate compounds using tris(2-aminoethyl)amine (TREN) as the organic template have been formulated, with different structures and potentially different separations applications because of those structural differences.
Any improvement in the degree of selectivity or efficiency of a separation process can lead to increased purity of a product and, potentially, significant cost savings. The present invention provides a separation process using a novel manganese-phosphate compound templated using TREN which can selectively separate certain polar compounds from a mixture of chemically-similar polar compounds.